Early Present
by Senaa
Summary: There are a lot of things Nightwing anticipated, but the sight of his brother in a cold, lonely night wasn't one of them


If anything, the Titans Tower was supposed to have the highest security in Jump City. The eccentric building was filled with young heroes with raw power, in need of training to be used for an even large mass of people though they already made their own little gang inside. Not only that, the fact that one of their members was basically half machine and their leader used to be _the_ Batman protégé gave enough reason to anyone who tried to sneak inside a second thought. Just one wrong footstep and all you see will be blaring red lights with ear piercing alarms.

Nightwing had literally anticipated everything. Slade sneaking inside? He got it. H.I.V.E attacking? A piece of cake. Another random villain decided to have fun? Hah, I told you, he got it!

So if there's anything he didn't anticipated, it must be _this._

The night was cold, and lonely. Beast Boy had left a few days ago to visit his sister, Cyborg was needed by the League for some reason, Raven locked herself on her room for some meditation, and Starfire was already sleeping hours ago. And so was he. Nightwing woke up from his slumber a few minutes ago, not because of the alarms went off, or because of the nightmare he used to get when he was younger, but because of an unease feeling he couldn't get off. He walked out of his room, went to the kitchen to have a quick drink but found someone else had occupied it. What made him surprised was when the person wasn't Raven or Starfire. It was Robin. His little brother.

"Jason." He said, smiled.

The current Boy Wonder looked up to him, flashed him a grin. "Dick!"

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Gotham?" Nightwing went straight to the counter, poured himself a glass of water. "Bruce will be mad if he knows you're here."

"I'm here to visit my brother," Jason pouted, "can't I do that?"

Dick laughed, but upon seeing his brother's face changed, he quickly went serious. "You're okay? B didn't do anything to you, right?"

"I'm fine," Jason replied with his own version of laughter, "I'm a little bit cold, but, other than that, I'm okay."

Dick nodded, didn't buy the statement even a bit. Instead, he walked closer to his brother. "So, anything you need here?"

Jason looked hesitated a bit, but after a few seconds, the little bird finally looked at him again. "You think you can give me an early birthday present?"

Well that caught him off guard.

"Birthday present? Jay your birthday—"

"—is still months away, I know. But do you think you can give me that?" the little boy asked again, a little more pleading. He knew it won't take long before Dick gave up and give him what he wanted. The male had always a soft spot for the boy.

"Sure, what do you want?" See, it didn't even take five minutes for Dick to agree. He hadn't given anything for Jason last year anyway. The male then walked closer to the window, watching the city he had grown to love.

"I want to see you fly."

Dick froze mid way, slowly turning his attention back to his brother.

"I want to see you fly. I haven't see that for a while, thought it won't be bad to go here and ask you to perform in front of me." The boy looked away, a bit embarrassed. Dick could see how he fiddled with his cape. Smiling, the former Boy Wonder started to walk to the gym.

"Sure thing, Little Wing," he grinned, "this way then."

Jason's face light up like a charismas tree, a line of happiness stretched across his face as he ran a little to match his big brother's footsteps to the gym.

The gym wasn't so different with the one they had in the manor, some standards equipment around the room with a special section just for Nightwing and his love for height. There was a trapeze, high above the ground and a few stuff acrobats used. Jason had seen it all, but he still couldn't grasp any other name other than 'trapeze'.

Once they arrived at the room, Dick told his little brother to wait for a while before he disappeared and showed up with black training pants and sweatshirt. He grinned at his brother before he made his way up.

He perched at the edge like a bird, looking at his brother once last time before he let himself fell, reaching out for the bar before he went too low, and that's when Jason stopped breathing.

Blue eyes hid behind white lenses widened in amazement as he saw his brother leap from bar to another, moving so gracefully like a bird flying through the sky, free from anything to ever bound him. Dick moved from one bar to another, doing everything so easily like it was just another normal thing for him to fly around like that without net underneath. And just when Jason thought Dick had finished his performance, the acrobat quickly jumped for another action and did the famous quadruple somersault. When Dick had finally landed on a safe place, Jason was already clapping his hands.

"That was amazing!" He said, almost yelled at how excited he was.

Dick made his way down, grabbing a towel and a water bottle before he made his way to Jason. He couldn't help from grinning when Jason couldn't hide his.

"That was _so_ amazing! First you were there, and the next second you were, _whoosh_ _,_ there! It was incredible! You _have_ to teach me that!" Jason continued, flashed the older vigilante a grin that even melted the walls around the Dark Knight's heart.

Dick took a big gulp of water; he wiped his lips from the escaping water and slung his towel around his neck, "We'll see about that, Little Wing," he reached out to pat Jason's hair, but was surprised when the boy took a step back to avoid it.

"Stop it," Jason laughed softly, "I'm not a kid anymore."

Dick offered him a gentler smile, "So, happy now? I would still do that even if you don't ask it as a birthday present you know." Dick put his water bottle down, making his way to the bench Jason had chose to ignore earlier. The boy was actually sitting nicely on the bench when Dick started his performance, but one second into it, Jason stood up, like he was trying to get a better look.

"Then can I have another present?"

Dick furrowed his eyebrows from his spot; he sitting with Jason's back on him didn't give him the access to see the Boy Wonder's face. Concern quickly took over his features when he saw Jason looked down before he took a deep breath. Turning around, Dick widened at the sight.

"If Bruce calls you, will you come home?"

Jason was smiling, like he had done for the last hour, like he had done ever since Bruce found him in Crime Alley. But the way he smiled felt so _wrong_. It felt like there's something behind it. The boy was smiling, but there's no one thousand watt smile or the glistening blue orbs, and everything about it ached his heart.

"Why?" he scoffed, "he won't even think about it."

"He will," Jason quickly said, "he'll call you. And when it comes, when he asks you to come home, even for just a few days, will you come? Please, I want you to be there!"

Tilting his head to the side, Dick stood up, "Jay, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he reached out again to place his hand on Jason's forehead to feel his temperature, silently praying that Jason was feeling unwell and this was just some nonsense he talked about, but once again, Jason avoided it.

"I'm okay!" Jason exclaimed, "I'm okay, don't worry, just—please, Dick, will you come? It'll be my last wish, I promise!" The boy was practically begging right now, and Dick didn't have the heart to see him like that.

"Fine," he finally said, eyes still looking at his brother, "if he _ever_ calls, I'll come."

Jason's face light up again like a firework in the dead of the night, and to be honest, even Dick was sure he couldn't be any brighter than this. "Thank you, Dick!"

Once he saw how Jason had finally smiled like he used to back, Dick let out his own. Something's bothering Jason and whatever it is he would find it soon.

The boy enthusiasm was soon cut off when the clock strikes twelve. The loud sound coming from the clock wiped the smile off his face. "Dammit it, I have to go."

"What are you, Cinderella?" Dick joked. He followed his brother's footsteps to the kitchen again. Once they arrived there, the Boy Wonder didn't stop until he opened the window, ready to hop out like usual. "Something like that," he joked back.

When Jason opened the window, cold night breeze hit the two, the yellow cape they had grown with flew endlessly. Dick was smiling again, but was soon erased when he saw hesitation on Jason's face. "You sure you're okay? You seemed a bit off today."

"I'm fine. A little bit cold, but I'm fine, Dick. Thank you for earlier." He assured. "Just make sure you'll come if Bruce asks you okay? I really want you to be there."

"I get it, Kid, come on, just go; B is probably waiting for you."

Jason gave him one last smile, eyes wrinkled of happiness before he turned his attention to the open window again. "Thank you, Dick."

"Anytime, Little Wing."

"Dick?"

Dick's attention was quickly stolen when another voice echoed through the room, turning around he saw Raven standing on the doorway. "Who are you talking to?"

"I was talking to Rob—" Dick's voice died once he saw Jason had long gone from his place. He sighed, that _ninja_ thingy sure ran in the family.

"What's wrong? I thought you're meditating in your room." He turned his attention back to Raven, heading to the hallway that would lead them to their bedrooms. Raven followed soon.

"What date is today?"

"Well, it was 27th April a few minutes ago, its 28th now." Dick answered, shot her a confused glance.

"Something's wrong." She murmured, but gave no explanation as she went back inside her room.

Dick nodded, opening the door to his room. Just as he closed his door, he finally murmured what was inside his mind.

"Something is definitely wrong."

As on cue, his phone beeped.

Dick Grayson stood in the front row. Head looking down as his blue eyes locked on his clenched fists. He paid no mind to people behind him, sobbing and tears went unnoticed as he stared at the stone in front of him, beautifully carved with his little brother's name on it.

Bruce Wayne, his father, _their_ father was standing beside him. The older male's whole body was shaking; no one said a word when the billionaire broke down in public. His black suit was drenched, not only because of the undying tears that travelled his cheeks, but because on this very day, the sky had decided to cry with them.

 _"_ _If Bruce calls you, will you come home?"_

Dick trembled as he remembered the words, covering his eyes with his hand, his body shook as he let out his tears. From the corner of his eyes, he could saw how Wally West had stepped in, putting his hand on Dick's shoulder, his way to show his empathy.

 _"_ _He will," Jason quickly said, "he'll call you. And when it comes, when he asks you to come home, even for just a few days, will you come? Please, I want you to be there."_

Bruce fell into his knees, the heart-wrenching sobs echoed through the gloomy day as Clark Kent and Diana Prince went to his side. They stood there, silently, just prepared themselves if the billionaire needs something. Bruce gasped, trying to regain his breath, "I lost him."

Clark put his hand on the billionaire shoulder, who cares if the media saw it, they could take care of that later. "I'm sorry, Bruce."

Dick was faster to recover, though his cheeks was still travelled by tears, he had finally got the courage to look at the tombstone again. "This is what you want as your birthday, isn't it? You want me to come. You want me to be here." He quickly looked away, couldn't bear to see the stone for too long. In his mind, he tried his best to remember every happy memory he had with the boy, every happiness he had shared before some maniac took it away. At the back of his mind, he tried to imagine a fifteen-year-old boy with black hair and clear, blue eyes grinning from ear to ear at him, he tried to imagine a fifteen-year-old boy who brought happiness to everyone he met, he tried to imagine a fifteen-year-old little brother saying thank you to his big brother.

"Dammit, Jay," he whispered, "I never got the chance to say goodbye." He tried to laughed, but came out pathetic. At the back of his mind, he tried to imagine his little brother laughing at him for his pathetic laugh.

 _"_ _Thank you, Dick."_

Sniffling, Dick laughed once again, "Anytime, Little Wing."


End file.
